Elvis Presley’s ’68 Comeback Special Getting Box Set Reissue

Elvis Presley's celebrated comeback special from 1968 will be reissued as a 50th-anniversary box set this year.

’68 Comeback Special (50th Anniversary Edition) is set for release on Nov. 30 and includes five CDs of music plus two Blu-ray discs featuring video content.

After spending most of the decade in Hollywood making forgettable movies and mostly boring music to accompany those films, Presley staged a comeback in 1968 with a TV special that was simply called Elvis and aired on Dec. 3.

Part of that program featured Presley singing some of his old hits, as well as a few new songs, surrounded by a lavish, Hollywood-style backdrop. But another section of that show spotlighted Presley, decked out in black leather and armed with a guitar, sitting on a stool on a spare stage that also included guitarist Scotty Moore and drummer D.J. Fontana, two-thirds of the trio that catapulted Presley to fame in the mid '50s with their work on the Sun sessions and early RCA recordings.

That "sit-down" performance included raw takes of some of their best records, including "That's All Right" and "Heartbreak Hotel." There were also scorching versions of "Baby, What You Want Me to Do" and "Lawdy, Miss Clawdy" that pretty much signaled Presley's return to rock 'n' roll.

The Comeback Special, as it was later called, opened the door to Presley's terrific Memphis records from 1969 and his renewed success in the '70s until his death in 1977.

The ’68 Comeback Special (50th Anniversary Edition) collects all of the existing audio and video from the show, including the original album, both "sit-down" and "stand-up" performances, rehearsals and sessions recorded with the Wrecking Crew in June 1968, including outtakes.

The Blu-rays feature the original television special, as well as a bunch of extras from the program. You can see the full track listing below.